Hello Again and Here We Go!.....

Guess you thought I was gone for good, huh? But never fear, seems like during the last couple of months so many things happened they kind of threw me for a loop and made me direct my energies into actually getting things done for a change instead of seeing them happen. It was good to see projects come around and actual progress being made, you know? But all this progress translated into BIG changes around my house which I hope will translate into BIG changes in the future as well.....

After much debate and thought it was pretty clear that unless I shook things up a lot, nothing would come my way in the way I wanted them to go, so with my OCD way of looking at things I made plans and got it done. No jobs out there? Whatever.... let's look at this differently and make our own way then.... this is where I am at.

I've been accepted at Le Cordon Bleu, one of the most respected Culinary Schools in the world and will complete a Degree Program that offers internships with respected Executive Chefs as well as giving me the opportunity to complete the whole thing at their home base school in France where my degree will come from.... (Rene, my youngest, has also jumped aboard for this adventure....) It promises to be a most challenging and exciting trip and while it will be very hard work and quite an expense (Culinary School is expensive!!!! so we need to work hard to pay all those student loans and look for lots of scholarships) it will give me the Degree to go along with my experience and give us a completely mobile future (YAY!) since cooking is cool all over the world and a good Chef can go anywhere..... that alone is worth it!

But in the meantime just acclimating to this will take all our focus and more than ever "FOOD" will occupy an even more prominent place in our lives. You will see some of our experiments and ideas reflected in this space as we share our voyage with you. I will also keep my other blog "belinadventures" and will complement it with this more focused one and I hope you will enjoy them both.

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Today we'll talk about a very popular beverage, Ginger Ale, which is a favorite around our house not just as a soda but whose ingredients occupy a prominent place our little black hearts. So if you like it from the store, you'll love this easy home-made version which is better yet! Although Ginger Ale isn't as popular in the West as it is in the East, the wonderful ginger flavor this soda brings to the party makes it a great "mixer" for over 200 drinks it's used in and whether you pair it with fruit or alcohol, it's always great eats!

Home-Made Ginger Ale.- One taste is all it takes to make you a convert.....

1 1/2 ounces finely grated fresh ginger
6 ounces sugar
7 1/2 cups filtered water
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place the ginger, sugar, and 1/2 cup of the water into a 2-quart saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to steep for 1 hour.

Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing down to get all of the juice out of the mixture. Chill quickly by placing over an ice bath and stirring or set in the refrigerator, uncovered, until at least room temperature.

Using a funnel, pour the syrup into a clean 2-liter plastic bottle and add the yeast, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups of water. Place the cap on the bottle, gently shake to combine and leave the bottle to rest at room temperature for 48 hours, away from direct sunlight.

Open and check for desired amount of carbonation. It is important that once you achieve your desired amount of carbonation that you refrigerate the ginger ale. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, opening the bottle at least once a day to let out excess carbonation.

NOTE: Please take into consideration individual tastes and allow for some room to get "your" taste, ok? This means adding more ginger (we do), sugar, etc. and while some people might not like the taste of yeast, if you allow it to settle to the bottom the taste will be diminished or you can try Ale Yeast which has a milder flavor or try simply waiting a week before you drink, plus waiting until the end to add the lemon juice since more time would cause the lemon to degrade. You can also try using honey, corn syrup or your choice of sweetener. Some people add vanilla, nutmeg or any one of many flavorings....

You could produce a sugar-free natural ginger drink by replacing the yeast mix with club soda or seltzer. This will also give you an alcohol free drink since this one gives you about 0.4% alcohol by volume (you'd need to drink a gallon and a half to get the same alcohol from a 12oz beer). But you could also use this process for cider, sake and beer since carbonation creates alcohol (the yeast beasties eat sugar and sugar creates the alcohol and CO2, etc. So if you add more sugar, you'd create more alcohol and CO2, ok? Just in case you want more.....

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Okay, now you have your Ginger Ale, want some creative ways to use it? Need an excuse to have a party? Read on..... Here's a link that will give you over 200 drinks and cocktails!

http://www.barnonedrinks.com/drinks/by_ingredient/g/ginger-ale-488.html

Here's a Pomegranate-Ginger & Champagne Drink you might want to try:

1 cup pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4-inch-thick slice fresh ginger
4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1 750-ml bottle brut Champagne, well chilled

Boil first 3 ingredients in heavy small saucepan until syrup is reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Cool.

Pour 4 teaspoons pomegranate syrup, 1 tablespoon orange juice, and 1/4 teaspoon Cointreau into each of four 6-ounce Champagne flutes. Fill each with 2/3 cup Champagne.

NOTE: You can also use Hibiscus Flowers (Jamaica) made into a strong tea instead of the pomegranate juice, increase the sugar and you're set! Lovely color perfect for the holidays coming up (yep, I'm already thinking ahead but will be working at the school's gourmet restaurant so we'll see how much I can do at home). But just think of the combinations you can do with this.....
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There you go a little something to get you going through the week and into a great weekend. I'm definitely going to use my Home-Made Ginger Ale and will be using it with the Pomegranate Juice addition (I'm juicing some now and saving some seeds for Chiles en Nogada. Poblano Peppers (recipe on "belinadventures") are on special at my local Mexican market at 3 lbs for .99 cents! YAY!). Enjoy!

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UPDATE ON POST: Rene decided to "work" on the Ginger Ale and perfect the recipe so it was "just right" so he's been adding, mixing and checking for several days and here's what he found. During the first taste taste it was rather weak tasting and kind of flat. Since we like a strong ginger flavor, the amount of ginger, sugar and yeast was doubled; but the next day (yes, we wait 24 hours for the flavors to settle before testing again) we found that it was too sweet but the carbonation reminded us of champagne so it was great, small yet strong bubbles! I have to go to the market today anyway and will be bringing home even more ginger..... so for the time being, this is still a work in progress but definitely showing promise. Talk later......